Looking Up
by suzyq85
Summary: Alone in his prison cell following the events of Frozen, Hans receives a surprise visitor. Helsa-ish...Sort of a prequel to Frozen Fever ;) K with one use of the word 'damn'. Oneshot.


_I haven't posted in foreveeeer I know. I don't have time to write x) Welp here's something I just kinda did over a 3 month period,whenever I had free time in school. Enjoy._

* * *

_Click clack click clack. Thump thump thump._

The faint sound of footsteps slowly drawing closer to him aroused the young Prince, or former Prince, from his dreary half-sleep. His body,dozed off in the lull of monotony, moved to sit up. He sat on the rock hard box they called a bed and ran his hand through his shaggy red hair,preparing for what he assumed to be breakfast or dinner. He no longer had any notion of time to tell which.

What,or rather who, appeared in front of his dingy cell surprised the young man, compelling him to sit up straighter on the cot. There was certainly a guard, but he was not carrying a tray of food. Instead, the built guard stood next to an enchanting young woman with an unreadable expression upon her face. Despite her attempts to appear nonchalant,her anxiety showed as she fiddled wih the long blonde braid draped over her small shoulder.

The prisoner's shocked green eyes looked up and met the visitor's icy blue ones. He could not hold her gaze and quickly glanced back to the dirt floor. The silence seemed to last eternally, until the guard broke it.

"Your Majesty,are you sure you want to be left alone with this scoundrel?"

The woman replied in a soft, yet authoratative tone. "I have already told you not to question me."

The guard, humbling himself, bowed and retreated, and with a quick glance at the prisoner, said, "Call for me should you need anything."

With the two left alone,silence filled the air once more. The young woman called to the prisoner. "Prince Hans."

Hans lifted his head,still not meeting her gaze. He spoke low,his voice hoarse. "Its just Hans. I'm no longer a prince."

"You're still royal by blood."

"That doesn't matter."

Once more,silence overtook the pair. Hans,not able to stand the tension, spoke, anger shadowing his true feelings of shame. "What are you doing here,Elsa?"

"_Queen _Elsa." She corrected him.

"Doesn't matter. What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just came to see how you were."

One red eyebrow raised. "What do you care?"

She sighed and started pacing across the outside of his cell. Hans felt the temperature drop. Elsa finally spoke. "Is everything you told Anna true? About your brothers?"

"You didn't answer me."

"The Queen stopped pacing and looked at him indignantly. "I don't have to answer to you. You answer me."

Hans resigned and answered. "Yes. _That_ was true."

"Do you regret it?"

"What?"

"What you did. To Anna."

Hans didn't know how to answer her. He definitely did. He was obsessed with gaining power,with getting his family to approve of and respect him. So much that it drove him to almost commit murder-twice. And in the end, his family wasn't worth it. They disowned him, stripped him of his royal title, and sent him to rot in the darkest depths of the Southern Isles' dungeons without a second thought. They didn't care about him and it took a year in a cell for him to realize that he threw his freedom and morals away for people who couldn't give less of a damn.

He knew this and he regretted everything he did to the royal sisters of Arendelle. Admitting this,however, would demonstrate weakness. He did not want to appear weak,despite being sure he looked it. However, he wanted to uncover the Queen's real reasons for seeing him,and he was grateful for any company after months of seeing only guards and other prisoners-both of which he did his best to avoid. Hans decided to be honest with the woman. She deserved at least honesty after his deception,after all.

"Yes.." He replied slowly. "I regret what I did to Anna, you, and the entire kingdom of Arendelle."

She studied him. "Are you lying to me? Because you know you won't gain anything from it. Remorse won't remove your prison sentence."

"I know that. So what reason do I have to lie?"

Elsa looked skeptical still. Hans sighed and elaborated,speaking softly at first, his voice gaining volume as he spoke. "Listen to me, _Queen_ Elsa. What I did was wrong and stupid. I was power hungry. I wanted to prove I was worth something. Now, I'm really nothing. I'm in a cell,I have nothing,everyone hates me. I've had alot of time to think down here and none of it was worth it." Hans paused, coughing,as he had not spoke so much in a very long time. He continued.

"I ruined my life and almost ended yours and your sister's. I hate myself for what I'd become. And I could apologize for the rest of my life for my actions and it would never make up for it. I'll never expect your forgiveness, but you can at least know I _do _regret it,all of it."

Elsa slowly nodded. "I believe you."

The young prisoner looked up, surprise evident on his bearded face. "You do?"

The Queen nodded again,this time more decisively. "Yes..I believe you regret what you did."

Hans almost smiled beneath he shaggy red beard covering his mouth. "Thank you..I do."

Elsa resumed pacing. "I understand you, Hans." She said. "We all have regrets..we all make mistakes."

Hans,unsure of how to respond,asked her, "Does..Anna know you're here?"

The young royal shook her head. "No." She answered simply. "She hates you."

"And you don't?"

"No."

The prisoner looked at her,confused. "I tried to kill you."

"As I said,Hans," Elsa replied. "We all make mistakes. And you have remorse."

She continued after a thought. "You're not a bad person. You've done bad things, you've had a bad life, but you're not a bad person."

"I am."

Elsa stopped herself in front of him, the cell door and a distance of 5 feet between them. "Look at me. Look me in the eyes."

Hans hesitantly raised his green eyes to meet hers. As they made eye contact, Hans felt suddenly much colder, as if she'd willed frost to appear in his veins by but a look from her icy blue eyes.

She spoke intently,maintaining the eye contact. "You are not a bad person,Hans. I know that. You're..you're like me." She looked away for a second, and, meeting his eyes once again, continued. "I've hurt Anna probably more than you did. I've almost killed her,too-"

"That wasn't intentional," He interrupted.

"It happened. And more than once." The look in her eyes challenged him to interrupt her again. He stayed silent, and Elsa continued.

"I've hurt her her entire life. I almost killed her, I pushed her away and ignored her for 13 years, then I almost killed her again. I've done nothing but hurt her. And she forgave me. Anna forgave me for all I've done to her,even though its inexcusable. And..seing you are truly remorseful, I want to extend that same forgiveness to you. I..forgive you,Hans."

His eyes widened with surprise. "You..forgive me?" The Snow Queen nodded, and Hans stared, still shocked at Elsa's words. Suddenly, his face hardened, putting a veil over his true want for the Queen's forgiveness.

"You shouldn't." He stated coldly. "You didn't hurt your sister on purpose. I did. I intentionally tried to kill both of you. You shouldn't forgive me for that."

"But I do," She continued, cutting off his protests. "And I want to. I hold no anger towards you, Hans, and maybe you don't deserve it, but I forgive you."

Hans didn't reply, and Elsa rambled on. "I don't know what that means to you-"

"Elsa."

"I mean its obviously not that important-"

"Queen Elsa."

"forgiveness does nothing for you, it won't change your sentence-"

"Queen Elsa!" She stopped and looked at him.

"It means everything."

* * *

_A few months later_

"Get up, Princey!" Hans woke to the burly guard rattling his cell door. He sat up groggily in his cot, his green eyes hidden behind lids half-closed with remaining sleep.

"Get up." Hans was surprised to find the guard pulling open the heavy gate locking him in.

"What's going on?" Hans asked the guard, who gestured for him to turn around. Standing, he complied, and felt his hands being tied.

"We've received an order from the Royal Family to change your current situation," The guard explained as he marched Hans down the long hallway. "You will no longer stay in a cell. You will work your sentence."

The young man was surprised. "My family? They ordered this?" He dared to hope.

The guard sneered at him. "Not 'cause they wanted to. Your 'family' cares nothing for you."

Hans nodded simply. He would not give the man the reaction he wanted. "Why then?"

The guard pushed Hans through the wood exit, and, ignoring his question,pointed at the stables a distance from where they stood. "Your new job."

Eyes closed, Hans breathed in the fresh air of the Southern Isles. He opened his eyes and squinted through the brightness to where the guard was pointing. "Stables?"

"Its a dirty job. Perfect for you!" The guard laughed. Seeing no reaction from the young man,he straightened up. " You will care for the horses there. Clean them, groom them, clean up after them." He pushed Hans to begin walking towards the building. "You will stay in separate accommodations. And you will not leave the area. There will be a guard with you at all times, so don't even try."

As they neared the building, Hans asked again. "Why are they doing this for me?"

"Not for you."

"Right."

The guard sighed,annoyed. "It was a request. A stupid one, I think. But, for diplomatic reasons, the royal family agreed to let you work rather than rot in prison."

"A request?" Hans questioned. They had made it to the stables and the guard moved to untie his hands.

"I just said that."

"From who?"

The guard had untied him and, pushing him in through the unadorned wooden doors, replied, "The Kingdom of Arendelle. I can't even begin to imagine why. Now get to work."

Hans stood alone for a minute, lost in thought. Then, for the first time in forever, he smiled.

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Yeah,I sorta added that ending after watching Frozen Fever :3. Hope you liked. Reviews cherished :3


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